Perspective: the challenge of ecologically sustainable water management.
Abstract: Sustainable water resource management is
constrained by three pervasive myths; that societal and environmental
water demands always compete with one another; that technological
solutions can solve all water resource
management problems; and that environmental solutions to protect and
maintain freshwater resources are more
expensive and less dependable than technological solutions. We argue
that conservation and good stewardship of
water resources can go a long way toward meeting societal demands and
values. Furthermore, water requirements to
sustain ecosystem health and biodiversity in rivers and their
associated coastal systems can be well aligned with
options for human use and deliver a suite of ecosystem goods and
services to society. However, to achieve
ecologically sustainable water management, we propose several key
issues that must be addressed. The objective of
this opinion paper is to stimulate discussion across traditional
discipline boundaries with the aim of forging new
partnerships and collaborations to meet this pressing challenge of
ecologically sustainable water management.
Bernhardt, E., S. E. Bunn, D. D. Hart, B. Malmqvist, T. Muotka, R. J. Naiman, C. M. Pringle, M. Reuss, and B. van Wilgen. 2006. Perspective: the challenge of ecologically sustainable water management. Water Policy. 8: 475-479
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